How to Gain Real Wisdom

“The good news is you don’t need to be brilliant to be wise. The bad news is without wisdom, brilliance isn’t enough. It is as likely to get you into trouble as anything else.”

–Barry Schwartz

The young seek it and the old have had endless opportunities to acquire it. Wisdom doesn’t arrive simply because we want it. Wisdom, much like good physical fitness, takes dedication, time and an eternal desire of curiosity, as well as the ability to look fear straight in the face and try anyway.

One of my favorite free apps is TED. A website that is a place for thousands of “riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.” Having used it in my classroom, I have also quite enjoyed it while taking long drives as I have chosen to listen to an 18 minute lecture on the topic of my current interest when I’m not in the mood for music, NPR or a book on tape.

Barry Schwartz’s topic “On the Loss of Wisdom” caused me to contemplate the idea of how we each can gain wisdom – no matter who we are, no matter where we grew up and no matter how much schooling we have engaged in, wisdom is something we all can acquire.

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